On May 25, 2000, the last Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon, ending an 18-year occupation and bringing national celebration. Liberation Day is described as a holiday of victory, pride, and dignity for people displaced by renewed Israeli invasions. Since March, Israeli forces have again invaded the south, displacing more than 1.2 million people, mainly from southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs. In early 2025, after a ceasefire, Israeli forces withdrew from all but five points in southern Lebanon. Many Lebanese fear that a prolonged occupation is restarting. Historical invasions during the Lebanese civil war, including 1978 and 1982, reached deep into Lebanon and forced PLO fighters out, followed by continued occupation of the south until 2000.
"On May 25, 2000, the last Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon ending their 18-year occupation. This expulsion of Israeli forces by an armed movement led by Hezbollah has been a cause of national celebration in Lebanon ever since, but this year, a new occupation in the south has dampened the mood."
"Saleh said he would spend this Liberation Day at the Camille Chamoun Stadium on the southern periphery of Beirut, where he has lived with his wife and son after being displaced in March, when Israeli forces again invaded the south. He is one of more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon who have been displaced from their homes, predominantly from south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, since then."
"In early 2025, more than two months after a ceasefire was agreed, the Israeli military withdrew from all but five points in south Lebanon. This time, however, many Lebanese fear history is repeating itself, and that a protracted Israeli occupation of the the country has started again."
"Liberation Day broke our shackles, freed the precious land, freed the plants, freed the butterflies, the birds, every grain of dust. It freed everything. He who didn't live in southern Lebanon before 2000 didn't know what it means to live under occupation."
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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